Observer business agenda + Government borrowing | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/series/observer-business-agenda+government-borrowing
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Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts of GDP set to go beyond a jokehttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/06/office-budget-responsibility-forecasts-gdp
Analysts get ready to make a serious attempt to find out what has gone wrong with growth predictions<p>We've observed before how the UK's Office for Budget Revisionism has been leading the creation of the alternative wing of financial comedy by satirising economists' penchant for dodgy predictions with forecasts so misguided they seem deliberately bad.</p><p>Fans of its homage to Tommy Cooper can look forward to another packed bill on Wednesday: first, with Steve Nickell being grilled by the Treasury select committee as he reapplies for his job as the OBR's second-best known economist (his first term is ending); and second, his employer helping that process along by unveiling its biggest mishaps from the past year. Yes, publication of the OBR's annual "forecast evaluation report" will raise the usual guffaws, as the body designed to provide "independent and authoritative analysis" of the UK's public finances asks "why our real GDP forecasts continued to underperform".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/06/office-budget-responsibility-forecasts-gdp">Continue reading...</a>Office for Budget ResponsibilityPoliticsEconomicsEconomic policyGovernment borrowingBudget deficitBusinessSat, 05 Oct 2013 23:05:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/06/office-budget-responsibility-forecasts-gdpPhotograph: Frank Baron/GuardianSteve Nickell: trying to stay in gainful employment. Photograph: Frank Baron for the GuardianPhotograph: Frank Baron/GuardianSteve Nickell: trying to stay in gainful employment. Photograph: Frank Baron for the GuardianSimon Goodley2013-10-05T23:05:43ZBad week in prospect for Kazakhstan, chancellors and Kingfisherhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/mar/24/bad-week-kazakhstan-chancellors-kingfisher
The economic situation is looking bleak in Britain, France – and even in the booming commodities sector<p>There's a cracking old tale about the FTSE 100 miner, Kazakhmys, involving it paying a £30,000 bill for the Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, after he spent five nights at London's swanky Lanesborough hotel during 2006.</p><p>That fuelled theories that the company is really run by the Kazakh state, and while that speculation refuses to subside, the share price has been less stubborn, slumping by about 60% since those glory days.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/mar/24/bad-week-kazakhstan-chancellors-kingfisher">Continue reading...</a>Budget 2013George OsborneOffice for Budget ResponsibilityEconomicsEconomic policyGovernment borrowingBudget deficitKazakhmysMiningKazakhstanNursultan NazarbayevKingfisherBudgetRetail industryPoliticsWorld newsBusinessUK newsSun, 24 Mar 2013 00:05:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/mar/24/bad-week-kazakhstan-chancellors-kingfisherPhotograph: ReutersKazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev: president and Spectator contributor. Photograph: ReutersPhotograph: ReutersKazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev: president and Spectator contributor. Photograph: ReutersSimon Goodley2013-03-24T00:05:53Z